Lightning Is the Only Way

None of the Kings were sure how to even react to this current situation. The Red King supported Gravis' claim of power? Yet, how was that even possible!? He was a level three Lord!

None of the Kings dared to say anything and just waited for the Empress' judgment on this matter.

Meanwhile, the Empress looked at the Red King and then at Gravis.

WHOOOM!

Her pride came out of her body and concentrated entirely on Gravis. None of the other beasts, except the white ape, noticed what the Empress was doing. The pride washed over Gravis with more power than before, but he had already experienced this. Without waiting another second, he released his Will-Aura to withstand the feeling of pride.

Yet, the feeling was many times stronger than before, and Gravis had to use the entirety of his concentration to keep his Will-Aura steady. His Will-Aura deformed into multiple shapes as the pride pressed into it.

Some seconds later, the feeling of pride became even more powerful, and Gravis had to grit his teeth. He wasn't willing to admit her superiority and accept her as his ruler.

The other beasts looked at Gravis and wondered why he looked so distressed right now. What was going on with him?

The power increased more, but just before Gravis' Will-Aura broke, it vanished. Of course, Gravis knew why that was. The Empress was only testing him.

After all of this had passed, the Empress showed an interested smirk. To her, it was incredibly interesting that a Lord was able to withstand so much of her pressure. She realized that Gravis had some peculiar techniques and powers. After all, the other Kings didn't even notice her pride, while he was able to withstand it. Of course, she hadn't used her full power.

your name?"

believe what was happening. The Empress only asked the names of beasts she found worthy. She didn't even bother to learn the

with some spite in his voice. Withstanding the Empress' pressure felt to him like she

to show disrespect to the Empress! He only

like a rebellious prisoner. Not even the beasts that were ready to die dared to be disrespectful towards the Empress. The feeling of

would just kill the offending beast. After all, if someone dared to disrespect her, it meant that

dared to talk to her in this tone. Other Emperors on her level or above her level also acted like this, but they were Emperors. It was wholly different when a Lord did the same. The fact that Gravis managed to somewhat resist her Law of Pride earned him some respect in her eyes. After all,

a calm voice. For some reason, when Gravis heard his name spoken by her, his whole body shook. To him, it felt like the Empress' power had been fully released and pressed down on him. Yet, that feeling had nothing to do

when she spoke his name, his emotions and body finally realized that an impossibly powerful beast had taken note of him. Earlier, it had still

the seven beasts beside you to be your opponent," the Empress said. "If you win, you

candidates to prove themselves. Yet, when they remembered that Gravis would be able to fight three levels above himself, they understood the Empress' reasoning. If Gravis' claim proved to be true, it would be a waste of time for their candidates to even try to prove themselves. The Battle-Strength between the two parties

"but I want to fight one of the level five Lords after that. These level four Lords aren't

beasts exploded in rage. This arrogant little level three Lord said that these outstanding contestants weren't even

such a level five Lord. It was just that putting his life on the line like that felt kind of not-worth-it. Gravis wasn't ready to

he had something that needed tempering, which the

Will-Aura tremendously. Right now, Gravis' Will-Aura was more powerful than ever before when compared to his Realm. With this

candidates. As soon as he killed one of them, he wouldn't be able to temper himself anymore

he would reach the power of a level five Lord. Yet, Gravis didn't want that. He wanted to fight one when he was a level four Lord. For that, he needed to improve his Will-Aura even

more interested in him. It was already hard to believe that he could kill a powerful participant one

as she realized that Gravis wasn't ready to learn a new Law. Just like the Red King, the Empress was also able to tell when someone was about to understand a